Ivan Miroshnichenko recently scored his second career NHL goal and is growing more confident by the day with the Washington Capitals.
But the young Russian’s run in the NHL could be soon coming to the end if the Capitals want to maximize the value of his entry level contract.
Against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, Miroshnichenko played his ninth NHL game of the 2023-24 season. The Capitals now have a decision to make with him due to the entry-level slide rule.
Ivan Miroshnichenko #ALLCAPS has now played 9 NHL games.
If he plays 1 more NHL game this season, he will lose his slide eligibility and his ELC will officially begin – "burning" the first year.
10 other players have already hit the 10 game mark:https://t.co/eBIfj1otfm
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) March 15, 2024
The rule is as followed per Cap Friendly:
If a player who is signed to an entry-level contract and is 18 or 19 years of age (as of September 15 of the signing year), does not play in a minimum of 10 NHL games (including both regular season and playoffs; AHL games do not count), their contract is considered to ‘slide’, or extend, by one year. For example, if a player signed an ELC for three seasons from 2015-16 to 2017-2018, and their contract slides, their contract is now effective from 2016-17 to 2018-19.
If the Capitals want the 2023-24 season to slide for Miro, they could keep him on their roster, but healthy scratch him in the remaining games. They could also option him back down to Hershey for the rest of their season as the minor league team prepares to defend their Calder Cup championship. In a paper move, the Capitals sent Miro to Hershey on the NHL’s trade deadline day, so he is eligible to participate in the AHL’s postseason.
“I would anticipate he gets some games and he’ll be back and forth over the rest of the year,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said of Miroshnichenko recently.
With the Capitals getting healthy, the move would make sense for both the present and longterm future of the team. TJ Oshie and Nic Dowd recently returned from injuries and Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Michael Sgarbossa are available to play and on the roster. The Capitals have also made clear too they want to see other players from Hershey down the stretch this season, potentially including Ethen Frank and Alex Limoges. The Capitals have two call-ups remaining this season.
“Depending on what happens with our roster and injuries, there’s a few guys down there that have had success that we might be able to get in for a few games,” MacLellan said. “[Ethen Frank] is one of them. ”
Regardless of what they choose, the Capitals clearly have themselves a budding NHL player in the 20-year-old prospect. Miroshnichenko has scored 2 goals and pumped 10 shots on goal in his last five games, receiving double digit ice time in all of those appearances.
